Fair Funding Matters for Human Rights

Fair Funding Matters for Human Rights

The Consortium is proud to support SCVO’s Fair Funding campaign, which is making the case for a voluntary sector funding landscape that is fair, flexible, sustainable and accessible. At a time when many organisations face increasing demand alongside financial uncertainty, the campaign highlights why long-term, reliable funding is essential for charities, community organisations and wider civil society. 

These issues are particularly important for organisations working in human rights and advocacy. Independent civil society organisations play a vital role in protecting rights, amplifying lived experience and holding decision-makers to account, yet often operate within a funding environment that is short-term and insecure. 

As part of the campaign, our Director, Charlie McMillan, reflects on why Fair Funding matters for the human rights sector. We are also pleased to see our member organisation, the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance (SIAA), featured as a case study, highlighting the importance of sustainable funding for organisations working to ensure people’s voices are heard and their rights upheld.

Charlie’s Blog

A thriving third sector and civil society is essential if everyone in Scotland is to have their human rights respected, protected, and fulfilled. Our ability to amplify the experiences of those whose rights are most at risk and tell truth to power is essential to hold decision-makers to account.

Independent, sustainably funded organisations are the lifeblood of a healthy democracy. They give voice to those who are too often unheard, hold those in power to account, and defend the rights of the most marginalised in our society. This work is not a luxury; it is fundamental to the kind of fair, just, and equal Scotland that we all want to see.

Yet the organisations delivering this vital work do so within a funding landscape that is short-term, uncertain, and frequently fails to provide the stability and security they need. Much of the funding available is tied to specific projects and delivered on an annual basis, with little support for core costs and few multi-year commitments. This instability is particularly damaging for advocacy and human rights work, which depends on continuity, independence, and the ability to plan and campaign over the long-term. 

There is also a specific and troubling challenge facing organisations engaged in advocacy and campaigning work: a reluctance among some funders to support this kind of activity at all. Yet holding power to account, campaigning for change, and defending human rights are exactly the kinds of work that a healthy democracy depends upon, and they must be properly and sustainably funded.

The instability created by the current funding landscape undermines the independence that is so essential to human rights and advocacy work. It makes it difficult for organisations to plan ahead, to retain skilled and experienced staff, and to speak truth to power without fear of the funding consequences. And it places enormous strain on the people delivering this vital work. 

Fair Funding would provide the stability and security that human rights and advocacy organisations need to continue their essential work, protecting rights, holding power to account, and giving voice to the most marginalised in our society. This is fundamental to a healthy, functioning democracy, and it must be protected.

Charlie McMillan,
Director – Human Rights Consortium Scotland

Read the full blog + an accompanying case study from our members, The Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance (SIAA) here.